“Aish! Why is this so hard? I can’t even start a normal scene. What will I do now?” Taekwoon sighed. Running his hands into his hair and pulling them out of his frustration. “I can’t do this! I don’t even have an idea on how this thing works! Aish!”. He sighed some more. Frustration more evident. “Spirit of inspiration and motivation please visit me. I need you more than ever. I promise to give you offerings. Please visit me now before the deadline. Please please please”. Taekwoon prayed as if his life depended on it and eventually gave up when none of the spirits he made up visited him. He buried his face into a pillow. His stomach growled but he did not make any move. He was hungry but there were no more instant ramen to cook. He’s too unmotivated to go to the store to buy one. “Why is my life so hard? Why did I become a manga artist anyway?  I’ll just sleep it off. Maybe the spirits will visit me in my dreams and maybe they can give me food while on dreamland” Taekwoon lazily directed himself into his bed room careful not to step into a pile of cups of instant noodles on the floor and two piles of what seems to be clothes sorted into categories; category A: dirty clothes that can still be worn inside the house and category B: very very very dirty clothes that should have been in the laundry pile weeks ago. When he recognized the bed, he pushed all the papers and books on top of it and slumped there with a loud thud. Not caring if it will bruise his back in the process. He just wants to sleep and bury every worry in his sleep. The life of a manga artist is so hard.

“Taek. I knocked on your door like 10 times already but no one answered so I let myself in. I used my spare key. Okay? Hey. Taek. What’s the matter? Are you okay? Hey Taek. Open this door now or I’ll break it in half.  You better not be dead from eating too much instant ramen. I’ll kill you if your dead you hear me! Open the door now!” Loud bangs and knocks were heard from his bedroom’s door. Taekwoon suddenly bolted awake from the loud knocks. He got up tiredly, still rubbing away the frustration and sleep from his eyes. Taekwoon opened his room with a gloom on his face as if a dark cloud was looming around above his head. His eyes were almost too small because of the eyebags under them. He squinted. Trying to process who the hell was disturbing him in the midst of his sleep and misery. Why can’t anyone just let him be. “Ah. It’s just you Wonshik.” Taekwoon said without any real tone into it. He was just too tired. “What the hell?! What happened to you? You look like a ghost. And what’s with that tone of yours? Aish! Can’t even give a normal hello?” Wonshik asked. Worried that his friend might have finally cracked. “I was expecting the spirits of inspiration and motivation to visit me. But it was just you. Hay.” Taekwoon sighed for the nth time that night. “What spirits?! Hahaha. What happened Taek? I bought you some “REAL food” since I know that you should have run out of instant ramen by now.” Wonshik said while laughing and emphasizing on the words real food.

Wonshik is Taekwoon’s bestfriend. They have been friends since kindergarten. Wonshik knows everything about Taekwoon, his mood, his hobbies, his little quirks. Even if Taekwoon doesn’t talk a lot he knows what the other male is thinking and he doesn’t mind the quietness when they are together. He casually visits Taekwoon to bring home some food because he keeps tabs on how much instant ramen the other male has stacked up in his fridge. He also helps out in cleaning  when Taekwoon was in his “artist mode” (not caring for his grumbling stomach, not caring to clean the house, not caring to do the laundry, not caring to read texts from friends and family). Taekwoon normally keeps things clean. His room is usually so clean that you can even use the floor as a mirror. But that is the normal Taekwoon. Right now, Taekwoon is in his artist mode. And someone needs to remind him how to be human again.

The two males went to the kitchen. Wonshik carrying a box of what seems to be a home cooked meal and a box of strawberry cake. He settled the boxes in the dining table and immediately went to make some coffee for Taekwoon. Coffee is his favorite drink afterall. He suddenly smirked when he remembered a fond memory back in their teens when he accidentally said that coffee is too bitter and he doesn’t like it at all. “Coffee is happiness in a cup. You should be ashamed by saying that. Apologize to the coffee spirit right now.” That was exactly what Taekwoon said that day and it was the first time he heard Taekwoon raise his voice a little louder than usual. It made him laugh and eventually Taekwoon joined him. Two teenagers laughing loudly in a small quaint café like they were in their own world. Yeah. That must have scared the customers off. Taekwoon is just too passionate when it comes to coffee and he even talks about non-exiting spirits like a little child. “Too cute” Wonshik accidentally muttered with a grin from ear to ear like a crazy person.  He did not even notice the other male was already standing on his side staring at him in confusion. “Hmmm… Why are you smiling like a crazy person Wonshik? What’s cute? Were you planning to make me drink another decaf coffee again? You know I won’t forgive you this time” Taekwoon stated with seriousness in his tone. If Wonshik made him drink another decaf coffee he will surely go mad this time. “HAHAHAHA. Nah. I don’t want you to kill me. That would be a lame way to die don’t you think? Dying over a cup of coffee. HAHAHAHA” Wonshik said while laughing so hard. Taek smiled at that. He loves the sound of Wonshik’s laughter. It was deep and it resonated in his ears like a loud but soothing melody. Ah.. It was really beautiful, Wonshik’s laugh.

Taekwoon was in a trance when two hands suddenly cupped his face. A thumb rubbing his cheeks and the bags under his eyes as if wanting to rub the damn bags off from his pale white face.  “Aish. You look so tired Taek. You haven’t slept normally for days again, have you? You have been eating instant ramen again for dinner?” There was a nice caring tone in Wonshik’s words. Taekwoon only nods not really answering the questions because Wonshik already knows the answer. He is his bestfriend afterall. When the coffee was ready, they sat on the dining area. They ate the food that Wonshik made and the strawberry cake he bought along the way. They talked about work, what they were doing on the past days, the weather, the new café across the street, the old lady on the first floor who adored Taekwoon and hated Wonshik’s blonde hair and tattoos. They laughed, and talked some more over dinner. It was their usual. Just talking and laughing about random things while eating. It was comfortable. It made all of Taekwoon’s worries disappear in an instant until…. Wonshik asks playfully “Why do you look so frustrated? Is there something wrong? Earned another stalker girl?”. Taekwoon glared at that. Sure, Taekwoon was popular with the girls. Given his tall slim figure and beautiful face. But Taekwoon did not mind any of them, he was too concentrated in his career to even care about other things.  “It’s about work. They said I was too engrossed in writing dark and psychological manga and I need to lighten up a little and explore more genres in order to grow. They..” Takewoon hesitated because he knows his best friend would surely laugh at him. “They wanted me to try to draw a romance manga.” Taekwoon sighed after delivering the bad news. He waited for Wonshik to laugh at him and of what he may become while writing a sappy manga. But the laugh never came. Wonshik had his hands on his chin. Seriously pondering on the idea of Taekwoon writing a romance novel. Hmm.. A romance manga.. That will surely be hard for him. He hasn’t even dated a single girl in his entire years of existence. Hmm… this would be hard. “What will you write about? Do you have a plot in mind already?” Wonshik asks with worry. This may be the most difficult project that his best friend has to make.

“Haaaayyy…” another sigh from Taekwoon. “I don’t even know what to write. I can’t even think of a decent scene. I haven’t even dated a single girl in my life. What would I know about romance?” Taekwoon pouted running another hand in his hair and pulling them in frustration. “Don’t pull your hair like that.. Hmm… I’ll help you out. Just draw a few pages. Then we’ll look into it and I’ll try to give you a critique if there is something off with it. Would that help?” Wonshik suggested.

“Ahhh!!!!  Thank you Shik! That would help me alot” Taekwoon’s eyes lit up with happiness. His smile was so bright like a child eating a chocolate ice cream for the first time. Wonshik ruffled his hair and patting him lightly on the head. “All right. I’ll help out. You look like a child right now. You should have seen that smile on your face. Let’s clean up first and do your laundry okay? You room looks like a war zone.”

“Stop messing my hair Wonshik. I am not a child. I’ll go get the broom.” Taekwoon pouted and stood up to get the things they needed for cleaning.

Wonshik slumped forward. Burying his face into the dining table with a blush. He was too taken aback from that cute little pout his bestfriend showed. He had seen it a thousand times but it still makes his heart beat like crazy. “You really are too cute. This is not good for my heart. Aigoo. Stop it Wonshik. You’re in the friendzone. Stay there and be a good best friend.” He whispered to himself not wanting the other male to hear his embarrassing dilemma.